Improvement in buckles



E. A. SMITH. Buckles.

No. 214,723. 1 Patented April 22,1879.

Zzmuzfir N-PETERS, PHDTOUTHOGHAFMER, WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFEIoE.

EARL A. SMITH, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WATERBURY BUCKLE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEM IN BUOKLES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,723, dated April 22, 1879; application filed November 1, 1878.

To all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, EARL A. SMITH, of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented anew Improvement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a front'view of my buckle; Fig. 2, a vertical central section of the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of buckles used for suspenders, and commonly called suspender buckles, and particularly to that class which are constructed with a hook upon which the ends engage, so as to be easily cast off without unbuttoning from the pants. This hook has usually been made fiat from the frame to the point, so that the bearing of the brace on the hook is straight and parallel with the frameof the buckle. The edges of such a hook cause the brace to wear quickly at that point. To obviate this difficulty a buckle has been constructed with a hook and a curved tubular sleeve fixed upon the brace, and provided with an eye to engage with the hook on the buckle. Another device has been to form such a curved tubular sleeve as a permanent part of the buckle-frame, and the brace introduced therein remains undetachable, but self-adjusting.

This invention has for its object to combine the curved seat for the brace with the springhook, so that the brace may be easily introduced or removed from the hook and have all the advantages of the tubular-shaped support, and in such a buckle the invention consists.

A is the upper, and B the lower, side of the frame; C C, the two ends; and D, the central or lever-bearing bar, of common construction; E, the lever, arranged to engage the suspender on the central bar D in the usual manner.

From the lower bar a downward projection is made in the usual manner for the hook on such buckles.

At the bend F the extension is turned into a semi-cylindrical form, the end Gr extending up a considerable distance above the bend, and curved back toward the frame, so as to contract the opening of the hook formed by. such bending.

At the bend the metal is curved longitudinally, as seen in Fig. 1, instead of straight, as in the usual construction, which gives an easy bearing for the braces, and one less liable to wear the brace.

The metal from which the hook is formed must be elastic, so that the mouth of the hook may be opened to introduce or cast off the brace. Thus in this spring-hook buckle are embodied all the advantages of the curved cylindrical attachments, as well as of the hooks.

From the foregoing it will be understood that no claim is broadly made to a curved bearing for the brace, or to a hook upon the buckle-frame; but

What is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is-

A buckle-frame the lower bar of which is extended downward, said extension bent below said bar and returned up and back toward and in front of the frame to form a springhook, the mouth of which is in front of said bar, and also curved longitudinally at the bend, substantially as described.

EARL A. SMITH.

Witnesses A. J. SMITH, E. FABRIQUE. 

